


Purpose

by cleyran



Category: Journey (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-08
Updated: 2013-01-08
Packaged: 2017-11-24 03:17:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/629766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleyran/pseuds/cleyran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frozen stiff in the throes of battering wind, staggering haphazardly, you trudge up the mountain. Although your body is a leaden weight, you find solace in the knowledge that with every shaky step you are closer to the summit than you were before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Purpose

Frozen stiff in the throes of battering wind, staggering haphazardly, you trudge up the mountain. Although your body is a leaden weight, you find solace in the knowledge that with every shaky step you are closer to the summit than you were before. The constant presence of your Companion is a comfort: he treks faithfully alongside you and you huddle together, trying to soak up what feels like the only warmth left in the world.

You cling to your Companion and dully register that both your scarfs are now gone; you feel a sharp pang of regret that you can no longer playfully tangle each other in your neckwear, chirping elatedly. You hang on to such memories almost as tenaciously you do your Companion, recalling the joy, utter terror and everything in between that you experienced as one. These memories are what spur you on: they are what compel you to continue fighting in what is surely a hopeless battle.

It is all you can do to bow your head and direct several weak chirps toward your Companion with the meagre energy remaining within you and hope that he understands: _Thank you. Let us finish this together._ Worry shoots through you as he stumbles, almost collapsing, but he clumsily regains his footing and bows his head. He seems to be mustering enough energy to chirp in response, but his voice is swallowed by the furious gale surrounding you. This is the moment in which panic crashes down on you with all the force of a War Machine and concern for your Companion writhes wildly inside you. You glance at him, and your distress must be blatant in your gaze for he shakes his head in what might be a rueful manner. Again he attempts to chirp. Again his voice is lost in the wind.

When you focus on the mountain once again, the light at the summit seems to have been swallowed by a smothering haze of white and grey. Paralysing despair seizes your heart. Your goal, your _purpose_ has been in sight for your entire journey, and is now fading away as surely as the warmth shared between you and your Companion. You fear you will be left to stumble on blindly, forlorn. You try to communicate your anguish to your Companion but you worry that your voice can no longer reach him. Your fear is baseless. He bows his head and his voice triumphs above the wind, just enough to hear him cry with conviction that shakes you to the core, _You are not alone. Do not be afraid._ Immediately the clamour of the wind fades away to nothing and silence descends as you fall next to your Companion; earthly bodies unable to bear the weight of your journey any longer.

The quiet, the numbness—they should be terrifying, but an inexplicable calm washes over you. Your regret and fear are erased like footprints in the sand. You are plunged into a sea of warm, white oblivion, so different and overwhelmingly benevolent in comparison to the malice of the storm. Warmth engulfs you and you weightlessly rise up once more. You notice your Companion by your side and the jubilation you experienced on your journey so many times before bubbles up unbridled from within, intense and all-encompassing. As you fly together for a final time, bodies freed from the manacles of mortality, your voice resonates through Paradise in a song more powerful than ever, _We were born for this._


End file.
